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Each year, before February even begins, the stores begin to fill up with candy heart-shaped boxes, flowers, stuffed animals, and other Valentine trinkets. For some, Valentine’s Day is a special day to commemorate love for one another, while others find it depressing and heartbreaking, or simply just don’t care. Either way, Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to totally suck, especially for those in early recovery. Here’s why.

Have A Happy Valentine’s Day

Letting go of fear of money

Many people in early recovery don’t have that much money to spend, but that doesn’t mean you don’t care. Instead of wasting your money on gifts that the person you love doesn’t need, why don’t you share your love in other ways, like just being good to them, making them something, or just enjoying a special day out building memories. Remember, Love is more about action and not about how much cash you have.

Stop with the pressure of expectations

Each year both men and women stress about what to get their significant other, and in some cases if they don’t get the right thing, it’s somehow interpreted as if they don’t love the other person at all. Then there is the pressure of either receiving or the disappointment of not receiving anything. It’s just a lot of unnecessary pressure that Valentine’s Day shouldn’t be about. In early recovery, we have more things to worry about, like first trying to love ourselves. We don’t need any extra stress while we do this.

Love should not be based on one single day

All the love you have and are ready to show should not be based on just one day, and yet, people do it anyway. “If you loved me you would have bought me…” is a statement that I am sure some of you reading this have heard before. Try sharing your love each and every day and you wouldn’t have to deal with the pressure of Valentine’s Day to begin with.

Stop focusing on just the “in love” part

Valentine’s Day should be about love in general more than being in love with a specific someone. I think it has been slowly going that way, which is good, because not everyone is in love and not everyone wants to be reminded that they are either still single or going through heartbreak. This is especially true for many who are just beginning to live this life clean and sober. I am not saying you can’t celebrate or share your love, but what I am saying is that you should love yourself and others more with your actions, than with material things on any single day.

Stressing over Valentine’s Day

For those of you who are stressing over Valentine’s Day, stop worrying. Take this Valentine’s Day as a day to help boost your idea of how you want to love yourself, how you want to be treated and loved by others, and how you can share your love with friends, families, and anyone else that is in your life. Just remember to not base all your love and the love of others just on this one day because giving and receiving love should be done daily.